Integrated optical devices for directly processing optical signals have become of greater importance as optical fiber communications increasingly replace metallic cable and microwave transmission links. Integrated optical devices can advantageously be implemented as silicon on insulator (SOI) optical circuits having compact dimensions at relatively low cost. SOI optical circuits employ integrated waveguide structures formed in the silicon layer of the SOI substrate.
In typical approaches, an electro-optic device comprises a silicon photonic chip with a photonic device (e.g. a laser) therein. The electro-optic device includes an integrated circuit (IC) carried by the photonic chip and for driving the photonic device. A potential drawback to this approach may comprise the limited flexibility of the type of photonic devices that can be supported by the silicon photonic chip.